Yes, folks. You heard right. Our childhoods have been saved. Toys “R” Us is set to make a comeback after an auction for the brand and rights was cancelled.
The famous toy store, who provided overpriced joy for an entire generation of children, entered bankruptcy in 2017, breaking the hearts of nearly every millennial on the planet.
But now, according to the Wall Street Journal, the anticipated auction for the brand was cancelled. Instead, the interests who control the brand are trying to revive both Toys “R” Us and Babies “R” Us.
The controlling interests, who include hedge fund managers and asset managers, would definitely have gained financially from the sale of the rights to the Toys “R” Us brand, but it seems they’re willing to bank on nostalgia for a better long-term investment.
The auction was for everything not already liquidated, including the Geoffrey the Giraffe mascot, but now all is right with the world again.
The new plan envisions:
A new, operating Toys “R” Us and Babies “R” Us branding company that maintains existing global licenses agreements and can invest in and create new, domestic, retail operating businesses.
While our collective hearts broke when Toys “R” Us closed, some good did come out of the disaster.
One shopper actually bought the last Toys “R” Us toys to the tune of $1 million and donated them all to the charity, Children in Need.
On Friday July 6, every single one of the 700 Toys “R” Us stores in the US closed their doors for the last time, in a move which meant the world had grown up.
One store, in Raleigh, North Carolina, was completely cleared out of its inventory before the doors were closed for the final time, by a mystery shopper.
While it left bargain hunters a little disappointed on the final day of the clearance, the bulk buy certainly put a smile on others’ faces.
Fox 4 Now heard from Toys “R” Us employees at the store, who confirmed the shopper intended to donate all their purchases.
Locals mused at the time over who the generous benefactor could be, with some guessing at Bill Gates or Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos.
They also dubbed the donation ‘rad’ and ‘pretty nice’, as well as an ‘awesome’ gesture, even though they were disappointed to not pick up a toy or two for reduced prices.
The company was forced to end the magic due to a $5 billion debt which racked up since buyout firms KKR and Bain Capital took it private for $6.6bn back in 2005.
The closures meant more than 15,000 employees were left without work.
Chief Executive, Dave Brandon, said at the time:
Together with our investors, our objective is to work with our debtholders and other creditors to restructure the $5bn of long-term debt on our balance sheet.
We expect that the financial constraints that have held us back will be addressed in a lasting and effective way.
But now, it seems there’s light at the end of the tunnel for the company, and hopefully they can refill the gap in the market which they left a few months back, hopefully bringing some jobs and some joy with them.
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